Meyerbeer “Robert Le Diable”, Royal Opera House (Review)
In the fictional museum of operatic history the Meyerbeer exhibit invites curiosity more than it commands respect. One sees his place in the grand – very grand – scheme of things, one can appreciate his influence, acknowledge…
The Bodyguard, Adelphi Theatre (Review)
It starts with the gunshot. It had to. Legions of Bodyguard aficionados who know the movie frame by frame will have cried blue murder if it hadn’t. So there it is – the opening scene of the…
Lehar “The Merry Widow”, Philharmonia Orchestra, Wilson, Royal Festival Hall (Review)
Lehar’s Merry Widow has been been spreading enchantment across the globe for well over a century. She’s the vintage champagne of operettas and the prospect of John Wilson popping her cork was more than a little enticing.…
Sondheim/Furth “Merrily We Roll Along”, Menier Chocolate Factory (Review)
It seems inexplicable now that Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along should have bombed so ignominiously on its first Broadway outing in 1981. But then again what is clearer than ever from Maria Friedman’s…
London Symphony Orchestra, Gardiner, Barbican Hall (Review)
Any young composer who finds himself at the opposite end of a programme from Walton’s First Symphony had better be good. Edward Nesbit – whose piece Parallels was commissioned by the LSO Panufnik Young Composer’s Scheme –…
A Conversation With RICHARD SUART & MARY BEVAN: Backstage at ENO’s ‘The Mikado’
It’s an amazing statistic in itself that Jonathan Miller’s now iconic production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado is one-fifth as old as the piece itself – that is 26 years. For 25 of those Richard Suart has groveled…
Britten Sinfonia, Alice Coote, Wigmore Hall
The Britten Centenary began here, on his 99th birthday, on Saint Cecilia Day, at Wigmore Hall, and it seemed only fitting that the composer who gave him so much inspiration should have the first word – or…
Bizet “Carmen”, English National Opera, London Coliseum
There are few directors who can realise the potential of bodies on stage as dramatically as Calixto Bieito. Toilet cubicles aside (and it says something of our national press that this has become the image most associated…
A Conversation With MAXIM VENGEROV
Sunday 18th November 2012, London Jewish Cultural Centre at Ivy House It was a real a real privilege being invited by the London Jewish Cultural Centre to interview Maxim Vengerov at Anna Pavlova’s old London home –…
“Victor/Victoria” jinxed?
Blake Edwards’ adaptation of his own movie Victor/Victoria would seem to be stalked by a dark star. Henry Mancini fell ill and died whilst trying to complete the much-augmented score, Julie Andrews’ vocal woes began in the…